Think BIG: Why Micro-Moments, AI Insights and PR are the Best Sales Enablement Tools
Belle Communication
Creative strategy and PR agency helping brands think bigger for now and next.
Bold Brand Ideas: Ditch Mass Outreach + Embrace B2B Micro-Moments: Targeting the Right Message at the Right Time
Deep sales strategies are taking off as cold outreach and traditional sales tactics flounder.
A core component of deep sales is intimately knowing your buyers and understanding their priorities. It requires insight into things like nagging pain points, trending topics and common questions.
Once you have this understanding, you can build digital PR strategies that put key messages where and when they matter most. AKA: micro-moments.
Example micro-moments could be…
“Which is best?”: An operator needs to upgrade equipment after a refrigerator unexpectedly breaks. In that moment, they may search for product specifications or reviews. For example, “commercial kitchen equipment reviews.” This is a “Which is best?” moment where the buyer is comparing multiple solutions. During this time, you want search engine results to populate trusted roundups that include your product. You want the operator to scroll through social media and see your product used or endorsed by their favorite influencers.
“I need help”: A VP of sales is noticing a decline in qualified leads. They’re recognizing traditional strategies aren’t working anymore and need ideas for elevating their team’s approach. This “I need help” moment is when they’re likely to search online for best practices, trends or experts who have novel takes. You want your executive to be positioned as a thought leader in prominent trade publications or on LinkedIn.
“I want to innovate”: A chef may search for new ingredients that will attract Gen Z diners. These “I want to innovate” moments are driven by the need to stay ahead of trends. They may go to peers for inspiration or lean on industry trend reports and credible news sources.
Brands that anticipate these moments and serve up relevant solutions move from passive players to top contenders in a buyers’ consideration set.
Industry Insights: Use AI to Elevate Your Thought Leadership with Custom Insights
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the way marketers gather, analyze and apply data to inform their strategies. With AI’s ability to analyze vast amounts of data quickly and accurately, brands can now gain deeper (and real-time!) insights into buyer behaviors, preferences and emerging trends.
Consider these benefits for PR campaigns:
Personifying Your Audience: You can create custom GLMs that personify your target audiences. Once this GLM is set up, you can ask the personas questions about their preferences and needs. You can also ask them for input on key messages, content strategies and thought leadership ideas.
Identifying Trends and Anticipating What’s Next: AI tools can analyze social media, news and reviews to provide valuable insights into audience sentiment. This allows you to stay ahead of emerging trends and align thought leadership content with topics that matter most to consumers.
Enhancing Media Outreach with Predictive Insights: AI can provide predictive insights by analyzing historical data on media coverage, helping to identify which outlets and journalists are most likely to reply to your pitch. It can also give you ideas for “what’s next” so you can provide journalists with fresh takes and future-cast perspectives.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Content Optimization and Personalization: By assessing data like time spent on page, click-through rates and social shares, AI tools can identify which formats, topics and tones resonate most with your audience. This allows PR teams to continually refine and personalize thought leadership pieces, ensuring that content not only reaches the right people but also keeps them engaged.
Goals: Why Building Stronger PR, Marketing and Sales Alignment Drives Revenue
It’s not news that marketing and sales alignment is critical for B2B success. Yet, despite its importance, alignment and the resulting ROI are often hard to achieve.
Perhaps the missing piece is PR strategies that connect the dots between storytelling, marketing and sales.
In today’s integrated landscape, the most effective B2B brands are treating PR as a strategic sales enablement tool.
PR plays a direct role in moving leads down the funnel and driving revenue. Coverage and content from PR efforts “warm the waters” and build trust with buyers.
Despite PR’s role in the deep sale, the reality is 70% of content and coverage aren’t leveraged by sales.
Here’s how to avoid wasted content and leverage PR for sales enablement:
Use PR for Nurturing Prospects: Encourage and facilitate ways for sales teams to send relevant press coverage on industry trends or challenges. This positions your business as a credible source here to solve, not sell, further nurturing the relationship.
Create Consistency in Content Marketing: Ensure your website reflects the coverage prospects see in the media by publishing blogs or landing pages that dive deeper into those topics. If not, you risk high bounce rates.
Maximize PR on Social Media and Sales Assets: Encourage your team to share PR wins on social media - but make sharing easy by offering asset options, including text, key quotes and branded images. Additionally, display media mentions and awards prominently on your website, sales decks and marketing materials to build instant credibility and trust.